H.R. 497, the “Freedom for Health Care Workers Act,” would eliminate the Health and Human Services (HHS) Covid-19 vaccine mandate on healthcare providers furnishing items and services in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified facilities. It would also prohibit HHS from publishing any substantially similar rule.
The House passed H.R. 497 on January 31, 2023 by a vote of 227 to 203 (Roll Call 98). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because an executive branch agency, such as HHS, has no lawmaking power according to Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution, and therefore cannot impose vaccine mandates via executive decree. Even with an act of Congress, Covid-19 vaccine mandates would still be unconstitutional due to the lack of constitutional authority for Congress to pass a law mandating what you must put into your body.
